From The Record archive: Ruling made in I-5 rock-throwing incident

Thursday

Jul 10, 2008 at 2:39 PM

Sixteen-year-old Joshua Daniels will be tried as an adult on attempted murder and other charges for allegedly throwing a chunk of concrete at a truck, critically injuring the driver, a Juvenile Court judge ruled Friday.

Mike White

Sixteen-year-old Joshua Daniels will be tried as an adult on attempted murder and other charges for allegedly throwing a chunk of concrete at a truck, critically injuring the driver, a Juvenile Court judge ruled Friday. The ruling came after a Stockton police detective testified that Daniels told investigators he enjoyed watching the terror in drivers eyes as the rocks and debris he hurled onto Interstate 5 crashed into their cars. Judge Thomas Harrington said prosecutors presented enough evidence to suggest that Daniels planned the Dec. 4 attacks on Interstate 5 near the Country Club Boulevard area of Stockton and that he intended to hurt people. This shows a total lack of caring for other people, a total lack of concern that people could get hurt or killed, Harrington said. William Collins, 49, of Sacramento was critically injured when a softball-size piece of concrete hit him in the head as he drove his big rig. He remains in a coma at a Folsom care home and is not expected to recover. Daniels court-appointed attorney, Greg Davenport, said after the hearing that Daniels maintains his innocence. Collins family, friends and fellow truckers, who filled the small courtroom in French Camp, said they were satisfied with the judges decision. If hes going to play like the boys, hes got to pay like the boys, said Collins wife, Barbara Collins. Daniels, weighed down by leg and arm chains, said nothing during the hearing. He slouched in his chair and held his head down during most of the three-hour hearing. Prosecution witnesses said Daniels planned the attack carefully. He picked an area where he knew he could find boulders large enough to break windshields but small enough to throw them overhand like a baseball, Stockton police Detective Ron Stansbury said. He was angry at his stepfather and said he wanted to kill him, Stansbury said of Daniels. While being interviewed by police, Daniels smiled at a video camera and flashed gang signs, Stansbury said. The boy also had gang tattoos on his left hand, the prosecution said. Davenport, though, said some witnesses gave descriptions of a suspect who does not resemble his client. He suggested Daniels was venting his anger about the recent death of a friend and problems with his stepfather. Daniels was locked out of the house on the day of the incident, said his mother, Augustina Daniels-Benetiz. When he came home in the morning after the rock-throwing attack, he was crying, she testified. He told her he was sad because of his friends death. She acknowledged that he had been out of control and that he ran away twice, including for two weeks last year. Authorities said Daniels threw as many as 10 rocks at cars Dec. 4, hitting four vehicles and trucks. Besides Collins, one other man was injured. Trucker Charles Berrys side window was smashed, and he received about 30 cuts from flying glass. About 30 seconds later, Berry said, he saw Collins crash and found him in his truck with his head split open. Anytime I see kids up on an overpass or on the side of the road, it distracts my attention, he said. I dont go through Stockton anymore. Daniels faces charges of attempted murder, aggravated mayhem, assault with a deadly weapon and throwing rocks at vehicles.